C. Viper requires much finesse to play competitively. She can be a fun character to unleash after you have put in the practice to master her abilities. For instance, you must approach Street Fighter IV differently when playing as her: the Super Jump Cancel and faking Thunder Knuckle/Seismic Hammer are useful tools to learn.

She takes extra damage when hit, so while it is important to put your opponent in a mix-up situation with her, be aware that certain characters can shut down her offense with a simple EX move such as Rufus' Messiah Kick.

The best defense is to keep an eye on your opponent's EX and Ultra meter at all times to know when to mount an offense, or bait their EX moves to have them waste their meter. These mix-ups are her primary source of damage considering her Ultra 1 is fairly difficult to connect in most situations, compared to the rest of the cast.

What's New in Super?

C. Viper's game remains mostly the same in Super Street Fighter 4, although her Burning Kick's have slightly more recovery when they are blocked. There are also minor adjustments to the hit box of her Crouching Medium Punch, but the overall gameplan of getting in and starting Burning Kick mix ups and combos is all the same.

Ultra 2

C. Viper gains an air Ultra in Super Street Fighter 4 which allows her to hit her opponent in mid-air. This Ultra is a bit more reliable than her original Ultra in that it doesnt require as specific timing, but keep in mind it cannot be comboed from her Burning Kick's which may make some players feel limited in it's uses.

That said, you can Super Jump Cancel from an EX Seismic Hammer and land it, and even Super Jump Cancel from normal moves and have it connect. For instance, you can hit a Crouching Heavy Punch, Super Jump Cancel, Ultra 2 and it will all combo.

Move List

Strengths

Can stun the opponent within a few strong mix-ups

Great mix-up game

Only character in the game with a Super Jump besides Ibuki, hence one of the only characters who can super jump cancel special moves.

Focus AttackOne of the weaker Focus Attacks in the game due to its speed and range is best used after the opponent is dizzy to add extra damage.

Armor Breaking MoveThunder Knuckle: Use this to break armor on opponents who try to Focus Attack your crouching normal attacks and to stop moves with armor such as Balrogs EX Dash Punch.

Best Special MoveEX Seismic Hammer: This is great move that covers a lot of ground, invincible to most high attacks on start-up, and launches the opponent into the air allowing you to follow-up with a Burning Kick. Not only is it used within some of her most damaging combos, it's a great move to get C. Viper out of trouble when being pressured or running away from her opponent.

Landing the Ultra

ULTRA 1

In the corner after a connected Burning Kick

Mid-screen after a hard punch Thunder Knuckle when the opponent is directly above you (Not always guaranteed)

After a point blank EX Siesmic Hammer.

ULTRA 2

After an EX Siesmic Hammer

Crouching Heavy Punch, Super Jump Cancel, Ultra 2

Can catch opponents mid air

Combos

Crouching Medium Kick or Punch cancel into Light or Medium Punch Thunder Knuckle Your basic combo to put pressure on the opponent. Fake the Thunder Knuckle and walk up and throw to keep your opponent on their toes. You can cancel into Super as well in situations where it will surely win you the match, but in most cases it's better to save her meter for EX moves.

Jumping Hard Kick, Hard Punch cancel into EX Seismic Hammer, Super Jump Cancel, Hard Kick Burning Kick This is her go to combo when given the opportunity to do big damage. Keep in mind you can land a hard punch Thunder Knuckle or Ultra after the Burning Kick when this combo is done in the corner.

Controlling the Ground

C. Viper should always be looking to put her opponent in a wake up situation where she can do more damage through ambiguous cross-ups both with her jumping attacks and Burning Kick. One of the primary ways to accomplish this is by using her Thunder Knuckle within combos and mix-up into throws or EX Seismic Hammer. Her crouching Medium Kick can be canceled into both Light and Medium Punch Thunder Knuckle and is usually your best choice since it has better range than her crouching Medium Punch (crouching medium punch is a good choice from the right ranges).

Once the Thunder Knuckle connects, she has a variety of mix-up options from there. She can try for another low attack into Thunder Knuckle for opponents who block high. She can walk-up-throw for opponents who are asleep at the wheel and are expecting another attack. She can go for the overhead with Forward and Medium Punch against opponents who block low, cautious of another low Medium Kick attack. Finally, she can use her EX Seismic Hammer to catch counter attacks and start a combo.

Keep in mind she can also fake her Thunder Knuckle by pressing the two opposite punch attacks at the same time immediately after you initiate the move. Although it's always good to go for guaranteed damage, when your crouching medium kick or punch is blocked, faking the Thunder Knuckle is a good way to juke your opponent. Once you fake the Thunder Knuckle you can go for a lot of the same mix ups that were just mentioned, although walk up and throw is usually your best bet.

As a side note, you can fake both her Thunder Knuckle and Seismic Hammer, and by doing this mid screen and full screen on its own, it will keep your opponent on their toes, not sure what to expect next.

As mentioned before, her best option to put her opponent in a wake up situation is her throw. She has two types of throws that can set up her opponent for an ambiguous cross up. Her directional throw will drop them right in front of her. From there she can normal jump over them and do a Light Kick Burning Kick to hit right in-front of them or a Medium or Hard Kick Burning Kick to hit them from behind.

Her neutral throw will toss them to the other side of the screen. Once they hit the ground, take a small step forward, perform a Super Jump and use her Light Kick Burning Kick to hit from the front or Medium and Hard Kick Burning Kick to hit from behind. She can also go for a jumping Hard Kick which leads to some of her most damaging combos and can also be hard to tell if it will hit from the front or from behind. Just be careful with this mix up in that certain characters with EX Meter such as Rufus and Bison can easily get out of these set ups with their EX special moves.

Her EX Seismic Hammer is another great move to help control the ground. Her regular Seismic Hammer can be some what difficult to connect and maker her vulnerable when missed, but her EX Seismic Hammer covers much more space and in almost all instances is a lot safer. In a lot of situations where you find yourself running away from your opponent, it is good to use this and catch them mid dash or mid attack. Once the EX Seismic Punch connects, immediate Super Jump Cancel into a medium or hard kick Burning Kick. You can also use the EX Seismic Hammer close range as a anticipatory counter attack in that it will avoid throws and will go through many of your opponents attacks when timed correctly.

The great thing about C. Viper is just after a couple successful mix ups you should dizzy your opponent where she can go in and land her more damaging combos for free. Once your opponent is dizzied, dash in, perform a Level 3 Focus Attack, Dash in Hard Punch cancel into EX Siesmic Hammer, Super Jump Cancel into Burning Kick. If you're in the corner you can follow up with a Hard Punch Thunder Knuckle or Ultra to end the combo. Very flashy and satisfying when everything works out this way!

Her Burning Kick hits late and the flame belies its hitbox and safety; it's is best used in combos and mixing up downed opponents because she to a variety of different moves. There are a couple uses for it outside of combos though, first and foremost to build EX meter. When you are a full screen away from your opponent, using the Light Kick Burning Kick is a good way to build up EX meter. Also, it can be canceled off of Jumping Light Kick and Hard Kick so you can jump at your opponents an cancel it off of both of those moves which can lead to a cross up hit when timed correctly.

As far as her normal moves are concerned, she has a weaker normal move set than most of the rest of the cast. As mentioned before, her crouching Medium Kick and crouching Medium Punch is your best bet to start an offense. Her forward and Medium Punch is an overhead that is very useful in mix up situations. It can also go over fireballs when timed correctly. Her towards and Hard Kick will go over a lot of low normal moves, but don't abuse it. Her jump straight up Hard Kick has pretty good range and can be use to help zone certain characters such as Zangief and Bison.

Super Jump and Super Jump CancelingAs you can see, using her Super Jump is a big part of C. Viper's game. It allows her to travel much further across the screen than the rest of the cast and also cancels most of her normal and special moves into a Burning Kick for extra damage.

To Super Jump simply tap down then up or up-forward and you will see her jump much further than if you just tapped up or up-forward on its own.

To Super Jump Cancel a move, execute the move and immediately tap down then up or up-forward. To Super Jump Cancel into her Burning Kick from an Seismic Hammer, tap down-back, up-forward and then quickly do a half circle back motion and press kick. This also allows her to cancel a Seismic Hammer into another Seismic Hammer, but the technique is a bit different than Super Jump Canceling a Burning Kick. Once the first Seismic Hammer hits, press down-forward, down-forward, up-back and punch and she will immediately do another one.

She can also Super Jump Cancel out of many of her normal moves, such as crouching Medium Kick and crouching Medium Punch. It's actually possible to Super Jump Cancel into her Ultra off of these moves as well.

Controlling the Air

C. Vipers primary tool to control the air is her Hard Punch Thunder Knuckle. Although not as versatile as the shoto Dragon Punch, it will still get the job done and put the momentum of the match in her favor once it connects. Once the first one connects keep in mind that at most angles you can hit with another hard punch Thunder Knuckle immediately afterwards. At some ranges and on some characters you can also connect an Ultra mid screen. In most cases it is best to go for the Ultra in the corner to greatly increase the chance of it connecting.

In some cases EX Burning Kick can work as anti air, but it is usually not the best option when you can just as easily go for a hard punch Thunder Knuckle.

As far as her normal moves go, back and Hard Kick is her best go to move to knock the opponent out of the air. Outside of that she does not have many normal move options so it is best to stick with Hard Punch Thunder Knuckle whenever possible.

What is also worth noting is what is not a good anti air option with her, that would be her Ultra and her Light Punch Seismic Hammer. Both options appear to be great anti air but they are never a good choice in that they are meant to hit opponents who are very close to the ground.